Thursday, April 25
I love Jehovah because he hears my voice, my pleas for help.—Ps. 116:1.
Jehovah can help us to cope with the challenges in our life and to find joy in our sacred service. When we approach our God about a matter that concerns us, Jehovah’s immediate response may be to give us the strength to cope with the situation. And if our trial does not end as soon as we had hoped, we may need to ask Jehovah repeatedly for the strength to endure it. He invites us to do so. That is implied by these words of Isaiah: “Do not give [Jehovah] any rest.” (Isa. 62:7) What does that mean? Our prayers to Jehovah should be so persistent that it is as if we were not allowing Jehovah to rest. Isaiah’s words remind us of Jesus’ illustrations about prayer found at Luke 11:8-10, 13. There Jesus encourages us to “keep on asking” for holy spirit. We can also beg Jehovah to provide the guidance we need in order to make proper decisions. w22.11 8 ¶1; 9 ¶6-7
Friday, April 26
We must enter into the Kingdom of God through many tribulations.—Acts 14:22.
You and your family can prepare now for persecution. Do not try to imagine all the bad things that could happen. Instead, strengthen your friendship with Jehovah and help your children to do the same. If at times you feel anxious, pour out your heart to God. (Ps. 62:7, 8) As a family, discuss all the reasons why you can trust in him. As in the case of a disaster, your personal preparation and your trust in Jehovah will instill in your children courage and peace. The peace of God makes us feel secure. (Phil. 4:6, 7) By means of it, Jehovah calms our heart despite the diseases, disasters, and persecution that can affect us today. He uses hardworking elders to shepherd us. And he gives all of us the privilege of helping one another. The peace that we enjoy now will equip us to face greater trials to come, even the “great tribulation.”—Matt. 24:21. w22.12 27 ¶17-18
Saturday, April 27
I came to call, not righteous people, but sinners.—Matt. 9:13.
We should strive to let go of guilt that we may feel because of serious sins committed in the past. Of course, we would never consider the ransom sacrifice to be an excuse to “practice sin willfully.” (Heb. 10:26-31) But we can rest assured that if we truly have repented of a serious sin, have sought the help Jehovah provides, and have changed our conduct, he has forgiven us in a large way. (Isa. 55:7; Acts 3:19) The ransom sacrifice is powerful enough to cover all our sins and will make life in Paradise possible. Life there will never be boring. We will always have interesting people to meet and meaningful work to do. Best of all, each day we will be able to come to know our heavenly Father better and enjoy what he has provided. We will never run out of things to learn about him, and there will be so much to learn about his creation. w22.12 13 ¶17, 19